Venture dollars needed on Space Coast

For companies like XCOR Aerospace, crucial venture-capital dollars can be hard to come by.

In recent decades, there has not been a strong tradition of venture-capital investment in the aerospace sector.

Combine that with Florida's generally lackluster record for attracting big private investment dollars, and the odds don't look good for the Mojave, Calif.-based company that makes reusable launch vehicles and others in the industry to find the money they would need to grow here.

That is emerging as a big stumbling block as the space shuttle program winds down, potentially leaving thousands jobless as early as year's end during one of the weakest economic periods in a generation.

If Central Florida is going to retain a dominant source of its brainpower in the form of the Space Coast's work force, the region must find a solution to the venture capital problem.

The answer could lie in the $40 million President Barack Obama has designated to help the region get back on its feet once the shuttle flies its last mission.

"We're always out there raising money," Nelson told me. "We're one of the few well-known companies in this sector not funded by your friendly neighborhood billionaire."

And that would also be the case for the thousands of NASA employees and contractors who will lose jobs when the shuttle stops flying. Their own ideas to commercialize technology they create and start new companies could be a significant source of jobs in the future — if the money is there to help them get started.

Locke, the commerce secretary, said after the meeting that the committee was considering the idea of creating a venture fund.

"It's something the task force needs to look at," he said.

The former governor of Washington acknowledged that when Boeing laid off large numbers of people there, "a lot of people started their own companies."

There's no question that designating some of the money for business investment is a good idea and one that has the backing of U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D- New Smyrna Beach, as well as people on the front lines of helping find jobs for laid-off shuttle workers such as Brevard County Workforce Development Board President Lisa Rice.

But a lot of questions remain about just when and how the $40 million will become available. Obama wants a report on how to spend the money from Locke and Bolden by Aug. 15. It could be much later, however, by the time Congress votes to OK the funds, if at all.